The present invention relates to a connector supporting structure and coupling structure, more particularly to a connector supporting structure and coupling structure preferably used in automobile sun visor.
Generally, the sun visor is provided on a upper end of a front window of a driver""s seat and a passenger seat on the side thereof of vehicle.
Some type of the sun visor has a vanity mirror and some type contains a lamp which enables the vanity mirror to be used even at night.
As a result of consideration of the inventors of the present invention, it has been found that in the sun visor having a lamp (not shown), a bracket 101 for fixing the sun visor to a vehicle body is provided at an end of a fixing shaft 102 and that bracket 101 is fixed on the vehicle body.
A connector 104 to be connected to a mating connector of wire harness placed in vehicle compartment is provided at an end of a lead wire 103 introduced from a shaft end 102a through the fixing shaft 102.
The connector 104 comprises a connector housing 106 for incorporating a terminal 105 fixed to an end of the lead wire 103 and a double-fitting spacer 107 which holds the terminal 105 from being loose from the connector housing 106 when not required and functions as a lance for detecting for an non-engagement of the terminal 105.
More specifically, the double-fitting spacer 107 is mounted to a spacer mounting hole portion 108 which goes through to a terminal accommodating chamber in the connector housing 106 so as to prevent the terminal 105 from being slipped out of the connector housing 106 and detect whether or not the terminal 105 is accommodated at a predetermined position in the connector housing 106.
Upon installing the sun visor having such a structure to the vehicle body, as shown in FIG. 27, a connector 104 connected to the sun visor is engaged with and connected to a mating connector 111 of wire harness disposed in a space between an inner panel 109 of the vehicle body and an outer panel 110 and after that, the bracket 101 is installed on and fixed to a mounting hole in the inner panel 109.
However, because the above described structure requires many parts for composing the connector 104 such as the double-fitting space 107, a number of assembly steps are required.
Further, because a lead wire 103 is introduced into a space between the shaft end 102a of the fixing shaft 102 and the connector 104, the lead wire 103 may be bit between the bracket 101 and the inner panel 109 when the bracket 101 is installed to the inner panel 109.
Further, before the bracket 101 is installed to the inner panel 109, a worker has to couple the aforementioned bracket 101 with the mating connector 111 provided in the space between the inner panel 109 and the outer panel 110 by feeling with sense of touch without visually making sure of the coupling. For the reason, any other person than a skilled worker cannot engage the connector 104 with the connector 111 easily. That is, because the connector coupling procedure is complicated, it takes much time for that coupling work.
Accordingly, the present invention has been achieved in considerations of the above described problems and an object of the invention is to provide a connector supporting structure in which the number of assembly steps can be reduced effectively by reducing the number of components and electric wire is prevented effectively from being bit by components. An another object of the invention is to provide a connector coupling structure which facilities coupling of the connector without manual operation of a worker and protects effectively the electric wire from being bit by the components, thereby securing a high reliability.
To achieve the above object, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connector supporting structure comprising: a connector having a connector housing wherein a terminal is accommodated in a terminal accommodating chamber provided in the connector housing and a concave portion is formed from an outer side face of the connector housing up to a position leading to the terminal accommodating chamber; and a bracket having a convex portion for engaging with the concave portion so as to position the connector and unit the connector therewith.
Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connector coupling structure, comprising: a bracket for fixing a subsidiary device to a panel; a first connector having a concave portion to be engaged with a convex portion formed on the bracket and to be united with the bracket by engaging the concave portion with the convex portion; a holder having an opening and to be mounted on a face at an opposite side to a face on which the bracket is mounted of a panel, with the opening portion positioned at a position corresponding to a bracket mounting hole formed in the panel; and a second connector to be installed freely movably around a supporting shaft within the holder and coupled with the first connector, wherein when the bracket united with the first connector is installed to the panel, the first connector is advanced into the holder through the opening portion and coupled with the second connector.